SISTER MARY NOLAN, SC, formerly Sister Vincent Mary, age 90, died at Caritas Christi, the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in Greensburg, on October 18, 2016. Born in Pittsburgh, Sister Mary Nolan entered the congregation of the Sisters of Charity on September 8, 1946, from Holy Rosary Parish, Pittsburgh. Preceded in death by her parents, Edward and Helen (Hanley) Nolan, and four brothers: John P., Thomas M., Frank M. and Edward J., she is survived by cousins, nieces and nephews. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Seton Hill University and a master’s degree in English from Carnegie Mellon University. Sister Mary taught junior and senior high school students in schools of the Altoona-Johnstown and Pittsburgh dioceses. Her students remember Sister Vincent Mary as a very fair and just teacher. After teaching for 25 years, Sister Mary moved into hospital communications work in 1973, serving as the director of public relations at both Saint Joseph Hospital, Homestead, and at South Hills Health System and as director of community relations and development at the former Saint John Hospital, Brighton Heights. From 1993 until 1998, Sister Mary was a public health educator for the Allegheny County Health Department. During her years of service with the health care facilities and the Allegheny Health Department, she received several commendations and awards for her work. When the construction of the Sisters of Charity motherhouse, Caritas Christi, was completed in 1999, Sister Mary ministered there as the supervisor of pastoral services until 2003 when she became a consultant and volunteer at the John Heinz Child Development Center. Sister also volunteered at Saint Joseph House of Hospitality, Epiphany Parish, Mercy Hospital and an Appalachian Work Camp. Endowed with a keen mind, she was an acute observer of politics and a gifted writer. Some of Sister Mary’s poetry was included in Stations of the Cross: Meditations in Poetry and Line. Noting Mother Seton’s love for the Eucharist, Sister Mary once commented that she believed her ministry as a Eucharistic minister gave her extraordinary graces in her life. She expressed that blessing in one of her haikus:
God shadows the soul,
biding His time, awaiting
the first backward glance.
